Showing posts with label wiki. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wiki. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

CES: Authentic Learning - Science, Language Arts, ITL

Today I was honored to be the audience for 4 presentations by the owners and employees of 4 different fitness centers. Each presentation focused on the special features that made their health and fitness center an excellent choice for anyone interested in special exercises, diet and individual attention. Although these companies were "not real" and the owners and employees were 5th graders in Ed Wolf's class at Coleytown Elementary, it only added to the obvious learning and sophisticated display and presentation of information. The "owners" presented their companies' missions and special services AS IF their fitness and health centers were legitimate companies.

It all began several months ago when Mr. Wolf wanted to have his students apply their prior knowledge of using wikis (See blog entry -- Jan. 21st - Community of Learners -CES) to a new project dealing with their study of the human body. Instead of researching the systems of the body, he wanted his students to have a strong purpose for using the researched information. He engaged the students in a proposition --
Can you create a "real" website using a wiki for a "real" fitness and health club that provides specific health, diet and exercises for specific people with certain needs, such as a 60 year old man recovering from a heart attack or a 15 year old soccer player?


The Mission Accomplished group, a doctor, diet specialist, fitness specialist and orthopedic specialist spoke about the yoga classes designed for a 23 year old leukemia patient. They described a selective diet with lots of fruits and vegetables. They said that whoever came to their gym received one to one time, and the staff would create personal connections with everyone. They created online diet tables with pictures. They also brought in a former client "Mr. Malon " [aka Mr. Wolf!] who provided a testimony to the great work done at Mission Accomplished!

The Groove Fitness and Health group expalined that their club was more social than any other gym.They offered a special individualized program for every person, and even provided children's programming. They detailed special programs for a 10 year old gymnast, a 40 year old Survivor participant and a 65 year old recovering from a heart attach. They offered cardio workouts, stretching plans and diet recommendations.
The !BAM! group explained that every professional who works in their gym focuses on the needs of the individual. They stated that the staff values respect and responsibility. They worked closely with a 10 year old dancer and provided real videos of turns, leaps and dance routines for their client to use at home. They embedded these videos within their website, and used them to illustrate how they worked closely to meet their clients' needs.

The Shock Fitness and Health group presented their plan for providing ONLINE personal training programs. The strength and diet experts talked about their recent experiences with a 10 year old tennis player, a 65 year old heart attack survivor, an obese 10 year old and a 50 year old smoker. An easy to read grid was organized to tell and show each client various foods and exercise programs. Pictures of the lungs after smoking, and before and after pictures of some clients were shown.

After the incredible presentations which focused on all of the major systems of the human body and what they need to stay healthy, the students answered my question:

What did you like best about this project?

and they responded:

  • I learned some incredible presentation skills.
  • I learned how to research in a group.
  • I liked pitching and presenting about my company.
  • I liked gathering information and putting it to GOOD USE!
  • I enjoyed creating my own clients.
  • I liked working together and getting to know the people in my group better.



Thursday, March 19, 2009

KHS: 5th Grade Human Body Wiki

Tara Doyle, technology teacher, Aimee Anctil, LMS and all the KHS 5th grade teachers and students are currently pre-searching and researching human body systems. A private wiki has been created with every students name listed under their teacher's name. Each student is filling in the wiki according to the model below (click on image for larger view):


The students and teachers will use this rubric to assess the work in progress and in its final stage (click on image for large view):Project Overview:
What makes my body work?
Human Body Project

Task: Chose a human body system from the list provided and become an expert on it.
• Identify the parts of the system and explain the roles and jobs of each part.
• Explain the overall function of the system and how it helps to promoteyour body’s heath and well being.
• Create a glossary of important key words and terms relating to your research
Possible systems:
• Respiratory System
• Skeletal System & Musculature System
• Digestive System & Excretory System
• Cardiovascular System
• Nervous system
Products:
Create a wiki page to host what you have learned. Use at least 3 different technologies to show your learning. Examples: Create an inspiration diagram of the parts of the system; create an Audacity MP3 file to explain the function of the system.

Possible technology applications:
• Microsoft word
• Audacity/MP3
• Inspiration
• PhotoStory
• Other…
What you will be assessed on:
• Quality of Research & Citing sources
• System Parts: Identified and explained each part of the system
• System Function: Explained the overall function of the system and how it helps your body’s heath and well being
• Quality of Synthesis (writing in your own words)
• Technology Application
• Presentation
• Glossary
Challenge:
Research what happens to the body when your chosen system fails. Explain a disease that can affect your system and how it impacts each part/organ of the system. Explain how it affects the life of the infected and describe possible treatment options for the disease. Post your synthesized research on your wiki.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

BMS: Student ITL Committee

Meg Tiley, Assistant Principal, and I have been coordinating a student ITL committee for three years at BMS. This group meets before school three times a year with several subcommittee meetings throughout the year. The mission is to increase awareness of the importance of effectively utilizing information and technology at home and in teaching and learning activities at BMS. Currently two groups are focusing on two different initiatives: a call-in information literacy contest held for one week live on BAM (Bedford's TV Station), and a video contest which asks students to creatively focus on the technology that they use at home. The group has an ITL Student Committee Wiki for agendas, and notes. In the wiki each student and teacher is represented by a self-created avatar name and icon.
Meg Tiley said, "Bedford has over 30 students involved in the Student ITL committee. We were able to target those kids with technology interests from their elementary schools and we advertise committee participation school-wide. It has been a wonderful connection between the students and faculty and the needs of our students. Currently, we have one student representative on the faculty BMS ITL committee. As we all know, our students are steps ahead of us with regard to current technology. We have found the student ITL committee to be an invaluable part of the BMS community. Each year, the student ITL committee holds one to two ITL contests to get other students involved in Information and Technology Literacy and what it means to them and to BMS. It is my hope that the committee will continue to grow and that students will feel empowered around some of the decisions regarding technology within the classroom."

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

SHS: Honors Western Religious Symposium Wiki

Eric Mongirdas and Rebecca Levine, Social Studies teachers at SHS, created a wiki for students in their Honors Western Humanities Classes to collaborate in a Socratic Seminar. This is the homepage of their wiki with some sample comments and collaborative discussions created by students.

Rebecca said this about the project: "This Wiki was a great tool to promote student discussion beyond the classroom walls. Students were able to discuss historical content critically at their leisure and without the constraints of limited class time. Furthermore, this tool empowered students who may shy away from class discussion to participate fully on their own time. As for added value, the Wiki was tremendous. Students used the material discussed online to formulate theses for midterm essays on the changing role of religion in the West. "


Welcome to the Honors Western 2008-2009
Religious Symposium Wiki!

The purpose of this Wiki is to communicate with your academic colleagues regarding Christianity and Western Humanities. It is our (Mr. Mongirdas and Mrs. Levine) intention that you collaborate across class periods on topics introduced in the curriculum.

Throughout the semester, we expect you to comment periodically on our Wiki. You will be assigned formally to comment on certain topics, but we encourage and expect you to visit the Wiki frequently and post your musings on class discussions & activities, homework, essays, outside reading, etc. We will be using the Socratic Seminar rubric to evaluate the depth and breadth of your comments.

Follow links below to engage in Socratic discourse about our units of study.
(These links do not go to the original wiki, but take you to some samples of students' comments with names removed.)

Rome Links

Medieval Links

Renaissance and Reformation Links

Friday, January 23, 2009

GFS: Schedule YOUR Mystery Reader on a WIKI!

Mary Ellen Barry, 1st grade teacher at GFS, schedules her Mystery Readers through a wiki. Actually, the parents schedule themselves through the wiki! During parent conferences she introduced it to the parents on the Smartboard at Back to School Night and they quickly understood how to use it. The parents have the password to edit the wiki.

Marry Ellen said, " The best thing about it is that once it's set up, then it's done. I avoid having to contact parents by phone or send out repeated letters to parents saying that I need volunteers. Also, if a parent needs to cancel, they don't even have to call me. They can just go on to the wiki and delete their name. I make sure to check it the day of a scheduled reader just to make sure that one is signed up. It has saved me so much time! Also, I heard that some teacher over at KHS has used a wiki to have her parents sign up for conferences. I love that idea too. I might just do that next year."

(Click on image for better viewing)

Lisa Lewis, 2nd grade teacher at GFS, heard about the Mystery Reader wiki, and this year she is using one as well! It has also saved her time and streamlined the process of scheduling her Mystery Readers.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: Wikis have a great relative advantage -- they can be adapted to meet a wide range of curriculum objectives at all grade levels. I will try to spotlight wikis which demonstrate various uses. If you are using a wiki in a way not featured on this blog, please e-mail me so I can put the spotlight on YOU!)

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

CES: A Community of Writers

(Click on images to enlarge for easier reading.)

This school year Ed Wolf, 5th grade teacher at CES, started a wiki to encourage his students ("The Wolf Pack") to write more and more and more. In the process, with community authors and parents invited in to comment on student writing, and a set of explicit writing rules and guidelines, students also continue to write better and better. When asked to provide the goals and objectives of the project, he explains:

"This project was designed to extend the writing experience beyond the four walls of the classroom and to expand our writing community. I have always believed that student self-reflection is a very important part of the writing process. As part of my Writing Workshop students have always engaged in pencil and paper self-reflection. The goal of the wiki is to engage students in reflecting, not only on their own work, but the work of others. In doing this, the students gain a better understanding of the writing process and what it means to be a writer. This project has helped to raise the bar in terms of student work. In addition, and perhaps my favorite part of the project, I have enjoyed seeing the level of the comments grow in sophistication and complexity. The comments are not simply superficial accolades, but the students provide each other with real, constructive criticism. In our writing community, feedback is not looked upon as a negative. The students look forward to reading the comments left by their classmates and incorporate them into their revisions. I have also used the wiki as a place to ask questions of the students and use this information to guide instruction. Having professional authors commenting on the wiki has also served as a real motivator. The students enjoy when Judith Marks-White and Lauren Tarshis stop by and comment."

The Room 25 Look Inside wiki was well planned and organized. This wiki demonstrates the power of a collaborative writing environment, which included regular review by peers, parents and professionals. What a difference an authentic audience can create! The quality of the student writing is extraordinary.

ONE STUDENT SAMPLE WITH COMMENTS
(Copied to a page on a public wiki)